The man who accused Sesame Street puppeteer Kevin Clash of having an improper sexual relationship with him has recanted his story.

The unnamed accuser, who first claimed that Clash engaged in a sexual relationship with him when he was 16, now says that he and the man who voices Elmo had “an adult consensual relationship,” The New York Times reports.

When the initial story broke Monday, Clash had taken a leave of absence from the PBS show to challenge the allegations that the relationship between him and the now-23-year-old accuser involved underage sex.

In a statement released Monday, Sesame Workshop said it investigated the claims and “found the allegation of underage conduct to be unsubstantiated,” though it went on to say “that Kevin exercised poor judgment and violated company policy regarding Internet usage, and he was disciplined.”

Through a spokesman, Clash told the Times: “I am relieved that this painful allegation has been put to rest. I will not discuss it further.

Same thing I was thinking. His recanting the story does not undo the bad PR. This will be hanging over Clash’s head for a long time. Maybe that was the whole point, to embarrass Clash after a bad breakup, perhaps?

After I made my post earlier I walked away from the computer thinking the same thing. Even if he wasn’t underage, people will still equate him with creepy old guys that like women 30 years younger than themselves. Not good for a Sesame Street performer and could bring enough bad press that they ditch him.

The point is that the accuser wasn’t 16 at the time of the relationship, he was over 18. His allegations have destroyed Clash’s life because he will never escape the stigma now attached to him as an accused sexual predator. Even though he didn’t do it, people will look at him and treat him differently. Plus, people won’t read all the info and they will think, wrongly, that he sexually assaulted a 16 year old as you clearly still do.

Usually that 16 comes with a stipulation that the other party be within a certain number of years in age of the 16 year old. 30-40 year old men that think they can legally have sex with a 16 year old in a LOT of those states are sorely mistaken. It’s to prevent an 18 year old kid from being convicted of statutory rape of his younger girlfriend because kids do what they do in high school. Of course the pedos are always quick to pull out their 16 year olds are legal argument, even though it is not the case in every state, and even when it is there may be other applicable laws.

He said “most states”. I was pointing out that out of those 32 states, many have the age stipulation laws, meaning that really it is 16 states where it is 16 and no age restrictions which isn’t “most states”. Also, what if this was an older man in the public spotlight that had sex with a 16 year old girl? Even if it was legal, there is a good chance it costs him his job just because it looks bad. Just because he is gay doesn’t mean he will not be held to the same public standards as everyone else. And people that support grown adults having sex with a 16 year old will immediately change their tune when it is their 16 old in question.

I don’t care if he likes guys who happen to be on the young side. Big deal. This was just a crappy way to out the guy and I feel awful for him. He is a good guy who never broke the law and that is what is important.

I totally despise men or women who engage in sex with underage kids. However, my sister and brother-in-law both teach and tell me teachers are accused a lot by kids who want a passing grade, etc. Have to weed them out.

I don’t believe it happens a lot where teachers are falsely accused, you make it sound like it’s a norm. There was a teacher at my high school who was accused more than once of having sexual relations with students. The school district just transfered him to a different school instead of actually investigating. Anyway, I’m with you with despising adults who have sex with kids, and teenagers are still kids.

Just because the guy was 18 when they had sex, it doesn’t mean the relationship didn’t start before then and kevin was just smart enough to wait til the kid was 18 before it turned sexual. It’s still pretty creepy.

No one should ever falsely accuse another of such a crime. Even though it proved untrue this will always, in some form, be attached to his name. It is shameful and I hope criminal to do this to another person.

It’s really strange that as soon as someone turns 18 it’s OK to have sex with him/her. Clearly this isn’t a pedophilia issue it’s a morality issue. Is it OK for a 50-ish year old with fame and money to “date” (older) teenagers?

I really don’t care if the kid was underage, whether he was 16 or 20 it’s still pretty creepy, especially for a guy that has such a close relationship with children and should be considered a role model.

The fact that false allegations about someone can be printed and posted all over the media before there is any type of formal investigation is disturbing. Press like that ruins peoples careers. Its ashame.

Wheter he did it or not, he is no pedophile. There is a big moral misconception in this country if a guy accused of having sex with a 16 years old gets labeled as a pedophile. It’s creepy and it may be criminal, but that doesn’t make him an effing sex offender for christ’s sake. Now he’s stuck with it.

EXACTLY. Just who is to say what is the truth? The truth could be as awful as it originally sounded, or it could be just as simple as the two met once in a Starbucks. Because none of us were there, without concrete evidence, there’s a lot of rushing to judgement here. My only concern right now is that nobody be vilified for something they really didn’t do, and nobody tries to tell my grandkids that the Muppet they love so much isn’t who they believe him to be.

Talking about double standards, a guy like Hugh Hefner dating 20yo’s playmates is celebrated (because a guy dating a younger woman is a symbol of success/status/power), mature women dating younger males isn’t judged that harshly anymore (due to the whole cougar trend) yet there’s still this ambiguous moral garbage when the guys are gay… “I’m okay with the gays as long as the couple is conformed by two pretty young guys”… BS. A lot of young gay guys LOVE older guys and pursue them (and is not about money, is because of genuine attraction)… of course, it can be due to “daddy issues” or whatever other reason, but isn’t fair to label the older men as “sexual predators” without knowing all the facts and when many times is the other way around.
I can speak from my own experience, I like “daddies”; at 19 I had an affair with a guy over 50 (and I was the one “assaulting” him LOL). Is “gross” for some? deal with it; nobody has any right to judge other people’s preferences as long as those involved are both consenting adults; and is very likely that the “accuser” was after Mr Clash since the first go and he was the one who refused to let anything happen back then… had been me at 16 (a time where unless due to external factors one person’s sexual orientation is pretty much clear) meeting Kevin Clash, I’d been crazy about him, he’s a total cutey; I’d been using any chance I had to get closer to him.
Kevin’s mistake was not distancing himself from a situation eventually problematic, yet he was not “out” before this… many times the straight folks forget how much privileged you are, not having to hide that part of your lives for fear of losing your jobs, being subjected to blackmail, etc, and how much difficult becomes finding any potential partner.